Sad but true. Times are changing and with the rise of Craig’s List and online advertising, there are few big revenue streams available to newspapers. If they consider that they are in the news delivery business and proceed on that model, they might have an easier time. As we know old habits die hard as do old ways of thinking. Big three auto didn’t change their strategy quickly enough and look at the mess they’re in. I think newspaper companies needed to go digital a long time ago.
I get the Wall Street Journal every day, but only electronically. I was tired of newspapers piling up in my living room. I would love to get the Economist electronically, but they force you to get the physical version as well, so I don’t subscribe. It seems that a lot of these folks are interested in “pushing paper” to us, rather than pushing the news. If they gave it to me in electronic form (with ads) then they could have me as a customer. That probably has something to do with the Audit Bureau of Circulations and how they count “copies served.”
I love that WSJ is available in PDF version because a lot of my business associates read the print version, and with the PDF version (an exact copy of the headline pages for each section) I can see which important articles are prominently placed and are likely to be read by them. Without seeing that “ranking” everything is on a level playing field and I can’t cover it. It’s always nice to have read the same article and comment on it.
WSJ has been podcasting for a while and publishing video, however, they need to put more editorial effort into it before I start watching. I can tell that a lot of the effort/research has gone into the written word, so that’s what I focus on.
Interactive websites carry more impact and get better response than those that are not interactive. This, according to a study published in Science Daily, May 27, 2008. The use of video on websites was tested and found to have a large impact on outcomes. Users “are likely to buy into whatever is being advocated” if the site is interactive as such sites “shape positive perceptions.”
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080526000349.htm
This confirms something that we’ve known. Video on websites is effective at making emotional connections and that helps build brand. Source of the study is the Penn State Media Lab.
According to Adage, GM is making some bold moves to bolster it’s marketing strategy by switching half of it’s $3 billion budget into digital advertising. The rest of the auto industry is sure to follow:
“Online is getting to the point where it may be more important than the 30-second TV spot.”
-VP-Marketing Joel Ewanick, Hyundai Motor America
Of course, we have known for some time that audiences have been moving online and it was only a matter of time before the bigger and more conservative advertisers jumped in. It is important that GM figures out how to spend their $1.5B as the digital advertising options abound. In the past, early adopters who have figured out the best way to spend online have taken advantage of bargain prices and furthered their market penetration.
Online allows for quick learning cycles and it is important that advertisers take advantage of the quick turn around. Take AdWords for example. After trying different combinations of keywords and landing pages, an advertiser can devise an effective campaign; however, this takes focus and energy. A lot of companies choose keywords, don’t monitor their stats and logs, don’t change their keywords for months, and as a result end up wasting money.
I hope that GM finds effective ways to spend its money. Their ROI will be good for the digital advertising industry and provide efficiencies for the economy. There is no greater drain on the market than both traditional and online advertising that doesn’t reach its target market. The saving of efficiently connecting buyers and sellers will trickle down to all of us.
I went through iTunes over the weekend and found that Apple has been steadily adding content. In the last six or so months, iTunes has added:
– iTunes University: Courses from higher education institutions (including Stanford, MIT, and Yale) offering thousands of hours of classroom lectures.
– Hundreds of TV programs including documentaries, current and past TV shows from networks including ABC, CBS, NBC.
– Video rentals of past and current Hollywood hit movies.
I’m happy about this because it means more traffic for audio and video podcasters. It used to be that in order to search for podcasts in iTunes you had to go to power search. Now podcasts are accessed by searching the main search field in the upper right. For example, I’m in charge of the podcast for San Francisco Opera. It used to be that you would enter in the search term and only albums and song selections would come up (music that was previously issued on CD). Now, the audio and video podcasts come up right next to the songs and albums and this means more traffic and more downloads for the podcasts.
Business content is now more accessible as search terms such as “best practices” now get the maximum 150 hits with results from iTunes University and podcasts covering best practices for accounting, education, supply chain, marketing, and so on. When I first started in this business, I spent my time explaining what podcasting is and wondering if it would ever take off. Now, I’m happy that it has.
I’m really happy about iTunes University. It means that anybody with an internet connection can learn from our top institutions. Technology is leveling the playing field. I’m really happy about video rentals. I downloaded and watched movies on vacation in my hotel room (versus the high rates they charge) and on the airplane - longer battery life and it beats carrying DVDs. I’m really happy about the TV programs as I like to learn from niche documentaries along my interests. With iTunes I can watch old reruns of the Dukes of Hazzard that I enjoyed as a kid. This weekend I discovered lots of shows I used to watch and hadn’t seen since I was a kid. We live in a time of niche consumption where the long tail long tail is becoming the standard. Finally, I’m really happy about the quality advances in these media via high definition which I enjoy via the recenly improved AppleTV.
Since we do all of our shooting in HD, I’ve finally taken the plunge and bought an AppleTV to see how it looks and insure our shows play well on the device. It took a while to get the format correct, but now that it’s dialed in, I like that it does a good job with HD content. I can see that on-demand downloadable programming is going to be a big trend. While it doesn’t look as sharp as Blu-ray, it still looks good, especially considering that the program is small enough to be downloaded over the internet.
I don’t think we’ll be able to download a Blu-ray quality program in the next two years. I love watching documentaries and I can find a lot of history and science shows through iTunes. It takes about 10 minutes to download a 40 minute show and size is about 500 MB. It costs $2 and it has no commercials, so the 40 minutes used to take an hour to watch. I figure I’m buying my time back. If $2 saves 20 minutes then I can get my time back at a rate of $6 per hour - a bargain.
In this new media world the ways of getting noticed as an advertiser (and an individual) have changed and that was nicely summed up in today’s Wall Street Journal article, “How to Be a Star in a YouTube World.” The first header in the article is “Be Consistent,” in other words, release your content consistently. A lot of companies want to try out new media such as podcasting and video podcasting and expect big returns after one or two episodes, but a lot of new media establishes itself over time. You can’t expect to be popular after one or two blog posts, nor can you have a large following after one or two podcasts. If you release weekly, you must stick to it; monthly, that’s not as frequent but you may see results in 9 months. If you release episodes daily, you’ll grow quickly, but make sure you have a staff to support you.
The article also exhorts us to “Act Like a Pro” and advises against “amateur” production values but that “the most popular material is definitely more polished than the rest of the pack.” Programs need to be well produced, thought out in advance, and depending on the subject matter, they require a lot of research.
I looked in today’s online Wall Street Journal and they still have posted in their Ecommerce/Media section the May 15, 2006 article “TV + The Web = ?” (subscription required) which quantifies facts that we have known for some time: Americans are surfing the web more than they are watching TV. Even though a year old, the article is still featured because we reached a key milestone which begs the question: If people have migrated from TV to the web, then why do advertisers continue to spend the majority of their budgets on TV while only a small percentage goes to web? There is still a lot of figuring out to do and it is not obvious where on the internet advertisers should invest; however, savvy advertisers are investing and learning and those that learn the fastest and execute first will win. The ones who sit back and wait for a clear model will find it hard to catch the early adopters.
I produced an audio documentary on the history of media my podcast New Media Currents which shows that the pace of technological and social change continues to increase at an exponential pace. Early adopters used to be considered money wasters and it might still be true that you should wait before buying the latest desktop software; however, when it comes to finding avenues to effectively sell the core competencies of your company, you should not wait. You should be learning as much as possible and executing your strategy. It’s a matter of survival.
I’m back and blogging again. It’s like working out, sometimes you get busy and fall out of the habit. In this case I got out of the habit after moving to a new data center as customers are demanding greater uptime for serving podcasts and video podcasts. We migrated everything starting last fall and I didn’t get to fixing my blog for a while.
Lots of new things going on. I’ve been speaking at conferences, specifically Social Media 2007 in Atlanta and Chicago. Now I’m speaking at PR Online Convergence 2007 on May 16 - 18 in Hollywood, CA. If all goes well, we will have podcast highlights from this conference available at www.newmediacurrents.com. There are also some podcasts from the Web 2.0 conference April 15 - 18 in San Francisco that are being edited and will be up soon - subject matter is corporate use of new media, including an interview with Robert Scoble. I also obtained permission to record a great conference track featuring P&G, Cisco, BEA, Social Text, and Intel where they talk specifically about how social media is being used in their organizations.
As Disney lays out its plans for the future, they see mobile content delivery as a key compontent of their roadmap calling it a $27 billion dollar market by 2010.
http://adage.com/mediaworks/article?article_id=112443
Mobile phones are being used in innovative ways. I talked to a Japanese businessman a few weeks ago who pays for his dinner in Tokyo with his cell phone.
In a sign of changing times, Tower Records has thrown in the towel. Despite their online store presence, they were not able to stay out of the red. It can happen to the best of us and you always have to make sure you’re thinking ahead, and when necessary, taking bold action. Tower had a lot of leverage in their day and could have used it to form strategic partnerships and new ventures to maintain their position in the entertainment industry.
Digital music has been a big driver of change and it will be interesting to see further fallout in the entertainment industry. Are record labels next? Promotion companies? Live music is having a hard time. People these days wanting more entertainment delivered to them rather than going to seek it out. It’s a bit sad for me since I do live entertainment (I’m a vocalist), but you have to adapt. I think a hybrid model is workable. Not everybody likes to sit home all day and hang out in front of their entertainment console.